The building in which the New York Times’ newsroom is situated has been seven blocks from that of the online team since its website’s inception. This will eventually change when the paper moves into its new building in early 2007, but the time apart has allowed the Web to grow and innovate in ways that would not have been possible had it been more closely tied to the print newsroom. Still, the site has reflected not only the physical appearance of the print flagship, but also the quality journalism that readers expect.

Chase went through the nytimes.com’s most recent developments that have been well documented in the media world. He described 2006’s quiet redesign:

• Multimedia is prominent
• Bylines are gigantic because reporters are important
• Designed to play up big stories, so that they are emphasized when they break
• Shows when things have been updated
• MyTimes, a tool that allows readers to personalize their page including news feeds from any other publication on the web, was an important development. Readers can also look at the MyTimes page of their favorite reporters to see what they’re reading
• TimesTopics lists all of the articles related to what will soon be 10,000 distinct subjects so that the reader can go deeper into the story 
• Video and audio will become increasingly important and many reporters are starting to toy around with cameras and digital voice recorders while they report. 
• The Continuous News Desk has existed since 1999 and employs six journalists and six editors who help the rest of the newsroom cover stories. They post the immediate news on the site so that other reporters can focus on doing further investigation into an event
• Reporters are using blogs more. Sometimes it can create extra work for them but more often than not, it is a means of covering stories that can’t fit in the actual paper and also a useful tool for connecting with readers
• Interaction with readers is becoming increasingly important. We get many ideas from them, although it takes some time to filter out the good from the bad
• TimesReader is now being tested with Microsoft who agreed to pay all of the development costs. It will allow people to download all of that day’s news and carry it around with them on their laptop or tablet, fitting to any screen and making for a very pleasant reading experience
  

Chase concluded by reassuring the audience that the New York Times continues to develop its multimedia reporting, constantly spending time developing content on new platforms to meet readers wherever they may be.

Also, check out some video clips from the conference grâce à Robb Montgomery and Visual Editors (here and here).